Category Archives: Sharing

It’s a LOOOONG post because there’s so many things I wanna tell everyone!
And BIG THANK YOU to the lovely mummies who provided me with so much information before & during my cruise!!! We had so much fun!

What’s in this post:
(1) Important information to ensure you don’t look swakoo (well, I was so swakoo lah) and also to help you plan your trip well.
(2) Photos (to tempt you if you haven’t already booked your trip).
(3) Tips on how to maximize your holiday.
(4) My personal opinions of the cruise. I will also share on how you can enjoy it on LOW BUDGET. And of cos if you have big budget, it will be even better!
(5) Comparison between Costa Victoria & Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas.

Do look through the album on Facebook for more info too!
I will post more tips at the description of photos & videos!

Who went?
Initially when I booked the trip, we booked 3 rooms. It was for us (Ahjussi, Myself, 2 kids), my parents (Mum, Dad, Sis & 1 kid) and my bro (Him, my SIL, 1 teen counted as adult price & 1 baby).
BUT, we had to cancel 1 room 2 weeks after we booked because my SIL found out she was preggy with #3 🙂Cruises have very very very strict policy about preggers on board. Please take note!
If you are more than 24 weeks or will turn more than 24 weeks preggy during the cruise, they will reject! Just nice my SIL will be 25 weeks during our cruise dates so end up they can’t go.
So the trip proceeded with just 2 rooms (total 5 adults and 3 kids).

Which ship?
We booked Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas.

Which ports?
Ours was a 5D4N cruise covering Penang & Phuket.

Type of cabin?
We took Oceanview Stateroom on Deck 3 (front of ship).

Price?It was slightly more expensive due to school holidays.
We booked under kids & seniors get 50% off. I heard my cousin who went 2 weeks earlier (not school holiday yet) than us got a better deal. When I compared prices, it was significantly different too, so if you don’t have primary school kids, please book off peak period to save $$$!

Total for our 3 rooms was SGD7110.10. Round off is around $2400 per room of 4 pax. Do note for RC, this price is inclusive of gratuity, which is not the case for another cruise we took last Nov (Costa Victoria). This is an ALL INCLUSIVE PRICE.Which means if you did not make any onboard purchases, you do not need to pay anything more. And don’t forget whatever pricing you see onboard, it is in USD and you need to ADD 18% to it!
1st deposit $2400 and balance can split payment (read on to find out why I split payment).
(Compared with Costa Victoria which I paid $2100 for 2 Oceanview Staterooms with 5 adults and 3 kids + a compulsory SGD$600+++ gratuity at the end of the trip which was billed to my credit card. So that worked out to be SGD1350 per room for 4D3N compared with VoS SGD2400 for 5D4N. But really, you pay peanuts you get monkeys lah! Costa Victoria was acceptable for me cos it was cheap and I managed my expectations, but if you want to compare the 2 cruises then it sucks! #oops!)

PART 1: BOOKING THE TRIPWhile I was searching for pricing & promotional deals, I saw that many travel agents had promotions. RC’s website also had promotions and you can book online or via phone. The prices are ALL THE SAME to be honest, just that some travel agents have credit card tie ups to offer free luggage or other freebies if you pay using certain credit cards. So it is really up to you. 🙂 If you love freebies, keep a lookout for those travel agents!

For us, I wanted convenience. Someone to do the booking for me. Someone I can blame if the booking went wrong :p
So we decided to check out WTS Travel at Waterway Point (walking distance from my place). And being typical auntie, I was aiming for the Fraser Mall Reward points.
I mean… Since I’m going to pay for it, then I might as well try to get some freebies out of it right?
Plus Waterway Point had promotion if you spent $100 you can get $10 credit! Sometimes they have other freebies too! Anyway Fraser Mall Rewards membership is FREE. Just download their app and sign up!

So I did the most incredibly cheapskate thing… I requested for split payment at WTS and they were so nice to say OK! (You don’t have to do this if you are rich and don’t like trouble :p)
Why split payment?
– Fraser Mall limit 500 points per day ($500 spent = 500 points). I recently redeemed 7000 points and got a $35 credit!
– Can claim many many $10 credit if I split the payment! This is while promo lasts though. Check with them on latest promotions!
– I enjoy walking to WWP daily anyway, Ahjussi and I treat it as couple time to walk over together.

The staff are super nice at WTS! They calculated the minimum deposit first, then the balance split into $500/day to pay. Ahjussi is also a Fraser Mall Rewards member so we split the deposit into 2 payments on the same day to get the mall points. Anyway, we cleared the payments within a few trips since each of us paid $500/day.
Details on Fraser Mall Rewards here: http://www.frasersrewards.com/fr-home.php?CategoryID=649 (They have more than 1 mall and you can accumulate from all the different malls, so why not?)

When we had to cancel 1 room, WTS staff were super prompt and awesome again! They helped us with the whole process.

They also guided us through important details and how to login to pre-book anything we needed. They printed out all our tickets, luggage tags, etc too! Very good service!

Important tip when booking: Choose your meal time wisely! Ours was 8pm slot so we had to watch later show times (9.30pm start) which may not be suitable if your kids are early sleepers. Mine are fine with sleeping late and I’m not fussy about their bedtime. They are trained to be flexible and adapt, so I didn’t get grumpy kids due to changes in bed time.

Important tip when booking: Book early if you want connecting rooms!

We took Oceanview Stateroom on Deck 3. This is the ‘second-cheapest cabin type’. If you have bigger budgets, can go try their balcony staterooms. I was worried about balcony as Meimei is very active and I was worried about the safety factor (we didn’t even allow her to walk on her own at the open decks). My kids loved looking out at passing ships, so Oceanview was the best option for us without a big dent in our pockets.

We saw the Interior Staterooms on board and they looked cool too! You can actually view the Royal Promenade which is the main activity area (the Dreamworks character appearances and mass dances happen here).

PART 2: BEFORE YOUR TRIP(1) Login to RC’s website to manage your trip! You can upgrade your dining options, book internet packages & drink packages or book shore excursions. And you can link your credit card for easy check out!

Link your credit card to your room. You can link for multiple rooms too. This makes the check out process very convenient because you don’t have to queue up to settle payment in cash. Cash payment is in USD, they accept SGD at unfavourable rates. So it is best to link a credit card with good exchange rates & doesn’t charge you for overseas charges. You can select to be billed in your local currency or in USD. I opted to be charged in USD. They will leave the bill outside your door once it is ready, for you to check.

If you like GOOD COFFEE, I suggest that you book their drink package with coffee… OR bring your own 3-in-1 coffee packs. My parents said the coffee at the free cafes are diluted and not nice… Or if you are a soft drink junkie like Ahjussi, you can consider the soft-drinks package too. I didn’t allow it because we were getting off at Penang & Phuket where he can buy cheap soft drinks. LOL!

If you MUST be connected to internet at all times, do take a look at the Voom Wi-Fi packages (price list uploaded). It is rather expensive as it goes by number of devices. If you book it for the whole cruise, it is around USD80 for 1 device. This is the basic one, not enough to stream YouTube or movie hor! Too expensive for me!
We didn’t get it because I’m alright with being not-connected for a while.
Day 1 we had Singapore network till around 6pm. Then after that no network till we were near Penang the next morning (Day 2) around 9+am. We had Malaysia SIM cards so we switched and used our Malaysia lines. No network again while we slept, then we had Thailand network the next morning (Day 3) till 9pm. Then no network for 24 hours (Day 4), followed by some Malaysia network at night (Day 4) and then back in SG (Day 5) in the morning.
For those who do not already have Malaysia & Thai SIM cards like we do or hate having to change SIM cards, my sis used a very convenient pre-paid Data Sim card by Starhub: http://www.starhub.com/personal/mobile/mobile-phones-plans/value-added-services/roaming/postpaid-roaming/data-plans/datatravel.html
I found this super affordable too. SGD15 for 2GB!
Ours was SGD5.50 for the Thai card (SIM + Data) & RM3 for the Malaysia card’s data usage (existing Malaysia pre-paid SIM). Ahjussi got for Big Boy a Malaysia 30-day Data SIM for SGD7.99, unlimited data! First 5GB is fast then after that is low.
If you are tech-savvy enough, you can buy your own Wi-Fi egg and put the SIM card in to share the data! Or use Hotspot 🙂
You can shop around for good deals!

(2) Read through the program sheet I’ve uploaded and plan your activities wisely. Time is precious on board!

Highly recommended:
– Magic Show by John Taylor (comedy + magic show)
– Ice Skating Show: Ice Odyssey
– Flow Rider (there’s minimum height, but adults please make time to try!)
– Dreamworks Parade & appearances (some are free for you to pose for photos with them like Gloria from Madagascar, some are paid type like Kungfu Panda)
– Join in all the dances at Royal Promenade & Poolside! Don’t be shy! No one will recognize you anyway!
– Dine at Main Dining Room because the food quality is good. Then eat more at Level 5 24 hour café. LOL!* Do note that program may change. Check again when onboard with our updated Cruise Compass! I’ve uploaded the Cruise Compass from 2 different sail dates, so you can compare.

Important Tip: Many of the shows & sign up queues start around 20-30min before the actual time stated! So plan enough walking time and queue time! Go early to avoid disappointment!

(3) Make your kids watch Dreamworks movies like Madagascar & Kungfu Panda so that they will recognize the characters on board. Meimei went bonkers when she saw Kungfu Panda!

(4) Decide if you wanna get off at Penang & Phuket. Then decide if you prefer to follow RC’s shore excursions (price & what’s available uploaded) or go on your own.PENANG: You can just stroll off the cruise. It is easy to just head out of the pier and get a taxi (tonnes of them there), or book a GRAB, or just walk around on your own. We hired a driver to bring us around. RM250 in a MPV (we squeezed a little) for the duration of the stopover of our cruise (3pm to 8pm). More details about where we went and what we did in Penang later in this post!PHUKET: You need to take a smaller shuttle boat to the pier or beach (depending on season). More info about the port when you scroll down to read.
We decided to book GRAB because the drivers we contacted quoted us quite high price and Ahjussi only had 1 word for the price: SIAO!
They quoted us 4000baht for 8 of us, just bring us to shopping area and pick us up after we are done. We checked Grab and decided Grab is cheaper.
If your cruise docks at Patong Bay, you don’t need a driver at all. Check with them when you book.

(5) Download all your kiddo’s fave YouTube videos. I almost went crazy because Meimei kept asking for YouTube before bed (while the adults took turns to shower). Thankfully Ahjussi used VIU to download Pink Fong Baby Shark songs to entertain her. And the boys were so helpful in playing with her too.

PART 3: PACKING FOR YOUR TRIP
Due to our bad experience drinking SALTY ‘plain water’ on board Costa Victoria, we were very determined to bring our own drinking water on board. However, the water on board Voyager of the Seas (VoS) was alright! With slight chlorine smell which is very similar to our normal tap water in Singapore.

But we still brought water because we didn’t know the water on VoS would be drinkable unlike Costa Victoria.

What we packed:
(1) Casual clothes for 4 days + 1 spare
(2) Formal attire (dress for ladies, long pants & shirt for guys) for formal dinner night. And yes, they reject if you are not properly attired. We saw it happen to an old uncle in front of us.
(3) Mozzie repellent & sunblock
(4) Toiletries
(5) Own towels (their towels are super clean, but I’m very fussy about this and never let my kids use the hotel towels when we travel)
(6) Slippers & good walking shoes (preferably something that can double up as nice shoes for formal night)
(7) Drinking water (5 x 2L bottles spread into 4 luggage). We bought 5 more bottles when we were in Penang.
We used the drinking water for Meimei’s water bottle refills, to make milk for her, and for the kids to brush their teeth. My parents also used some of the water we bought to take their vitamins in the morning.
(8) Swimwear if you intend to swim or try the Flow Rider!
(9) Backpack to bring the kids’ stuff around easily (we had to make sure we had milk & diapers ready at all times with Meimei). I brought a small sling bag & Ahjussi had his usual waist pouch for our credit cards, cash, and phones (more for when leaving the ship in Penang & Phuket).
(10) LANYARDS FOR EVERYONE including the kids! Because you need to have the SeaPass cards (your room access cards) with you at all times. You can choose one to hang around the neck or as like a wristlet. It’s your preference 🙂
(11) Hot water flask (NO KETTLES ALLOWED – They provided but again I don’t dare to use.) & some bottles to refill water to bring to the room for convenience. We used the hot water to wash & sterilize the milk bottles & water bottles daily.
(12) Your chargers for your devices! Do note that EXTENSION CABLES ARE NOT ALLOWED! They will be confiscated! So, if you have multiple devices like us, then make sure you have something that can plug many USB cables like ours.
Ahjussi got ours from Lazada. There are many brands and they have different number of USB ports. Take your pick! Link here: Click here to see the charger!Tip from Ahjussi: Buy the one for use in Singapore. On board just add on a travel adaptor (2 pin round style) will do. Then you can still use it in Singapore. Not wasteful at all.
(13) Carrier/Stroller if you need. Carrier was my choice as it was easier to manage than stroller. Many families had strollers on board.
(14) Bring PORTABLE FANS! Because during the compulsory drill, it is HOT and STUFFY. Be prepared! We also used it while we were in Penang & Phuket! Ahjussi the genius daddy used them to blow the milk bottles to dry (cos we lazy, dry bottles means you can put the milk powder in first so when the girl asks for milk we just need to pour water in).
(15) Pencil case with HIGHLIGHTER. So you can highlight on the Cruise Compass! It’s very helpful!

PART 4: THE ACTUAL CRUISE!Sorry we don’t have much info for the kids’ club other than the info sheet I’ve uploaded. The boys said they were not keen and Meimei didn’t qualify as she is not fully toilet trained yet. Requirements: Must be 3yo and above. Must be toilet trained.

DAY 1: Boarding!Though our tickets said our boarding time is 3pm, my parents insisted that ‘can go early and eat lunch on board one’… And I checked with the nice staff at WTS, she also said no issues to go earlier.
So, we arrived at Marina Cruise Centre at 9am! Agreed to meet my parents at 9.30am, we were worried about traffic and left home earlier.

The whole check in process is super simple!
(1) Make sure your luggage is locked and secured.
(2) Staple the luggage tag. If you forgot to bring it or don’t have a staple, don’t worry! They have 2 counters with staff to assist you.
(3) Hand the luggage over to the staff and they will handle it for you. Do note that it takes quite a while before you get your luggage back, so pack your necessary items into your backpack or handcarry bags.
(4) Head on in! Make sure you have your ticket & passport on hand. The staff will check and direct you to the correct place.
(5) CHECK IN! The staff will check your tickets, passports and issue you with your SeaPass! If you had linked your credit card, they will need the actual card to swipe and confirm.
(6) Scan your belongings and pass immigration, then you can BOARD!

While waiting to board, take a good look at your SeaPass. Memorise the room number and check against the layout of the ship to familiarize yourself. I’ve uploaded it for you, take your time to analyse when choosing rooms too!
When taking photos with the official photographers, remember to give the room number so you can view & purchase the photos (if you want).
Also take note on your dining time and dining room level.

Upon boarding, your room will not be ready till 1pm. They will announce over the PA system once the rooms are ready.
What to do while waiting? Head straight to level 11 at the back of the ship to enjoy free buffet lunch! It’s quite crowded, so be fast and send 1 or 2 reps to go grab seats first.
The kids need to be tagged, but you can do it later. Go grab lunch first because it is hard to get a table. At the fire drill, the staff will check and issue the tag on the spot.

At 1pm, you can head to the room and relax. Or drop off your handcarry & explore the ship before it gets crowded! Flow Rider opens at 2pm! Go try before the crowd comes in!

At 4pm, the MOST IMPORTANT THING will happen. Which is the Muster Assembly Drill. If you don’t turn up, the ship can’t sail!!!
On your SeaPass there’s a Muster Number, SUPER BIG. You have to assemble in the correct area. The staff will direct you.
Don’t go too early, esp with kids & old folks. You end up standing there in the hot sun. They will start to chase you out of the room, so start walking over at 4pm.

After you are dismissed from the drill, head straight to LEVEL 5 to get a good spot to watch the DreamWorks Parade (5pm). This only happens ONCE on the entire cruise. So don’t miss it! Somewhere near the popcorn machine will be a good spot!

Then you can hang around and check out the ship or go for your early dinner if your timeslot is 5.30pm.
For us, we hung around and went to watch a little of Jumanji at the poolside, snacked a little at L11 Windjammer’s buffet dinner before our actual dinner at 8pm.

Day 1’s show is ice skating show, they are quite strict about the ice skating show due to super limited seats, and it goes by your main dining allocation. 5.30pm dining people get a guaranteed seat at either 8.30pm or 10.30pm show (check again for details depending on your dining deck). BUT, you can go half hour earlier to queue/wait. If there’s enough seats, they will let those on the standby queue head in to watch.

DAY 2: Penang!Baby Oppa wanted to skate and 10am was the sign ups for skating, but we were too slow and there was a crazy long queue. So I told him it’s OK, I will bring him ice skating in Singapore.
Do try to come down earlier to queue for slots. At around 9.30am the queue started. Make sure you and the kids are already in long pants and you have socks with you.

Tip: Don’t promise your kids anything. Explain to them that there are many people on the cruise too. If they are cooperative and fast, high chance they can do the activities. If they drag time, they will miss it. After this, Baby Oppa learnt to MOVE FAST & the kids were cooperative.

There’s loads of activities but my kids ended up wanting to play golf! It was fun but very hot under the sun! Bring caps/hats & sunblock!

We got off at Penang at 2.30pm. A lot earlier than the expected 3pm (probably due to the good weather and quiet sea).
Head down to Level 1 (follow the announcements) and step off the ship!
Stop 1: Peranakan Museum (Entrance Fees Payable total RM120 for us). My parents enjoyed seeing all the antiques! Not very suitable for active kids as loads of breakables in the area. I was prepared to wait outside with Meimei but thankfully she fell asleep and took a long nap so I managed to walk and take photos too!
Stop 2: Penang Coffee. To be honest, the coffee is a little exp. I’m not a coffee person so I don’t know how to appreciate. But Ahjussi loves it. So indulge him and let him buy.
Stop 3: Bak Kut Teh – RM120 (paid by my dad – Thank you Papa!) We love this place! For intestines loving people, the intestines here are super good! Big Boy loved the pork knuckle. Baby Oppa loved the golden mushroom, youtiao and gravy! Meimei was happy eating plain rice. Zzzz
Stop 4: Convenience store shopping! I know it sounds crazy but I had to grab chips, chocolates and water. Whatever makes my kids happy! Ahjussi needed his Coke too.
Stop 5: Pharmacy. To replenish my medication stock and my sis had to buy more contact lens solution (because she didn’t bring enough).
Then we headed back before the crowd came back. Went to our room, showered and had dinner at the main dining room and went to watch the show at 9.30pm.

DAY 3: Phuket!Had to start the day EARLY because we were KIASU. I heard that it is a long wait for the tenderboats and we should queue early. So we had breakfast at 7.30am and went to join the queue for tickets at 8.15am.

TIP: You can send 1 representative to queue. But that person needs to be holding all the SeaPass.

If the whole group is ready and are in the queue, they will let you board the 1st tender immediately!

Thanks to my kiasu-ness, we managed to get queue #1! And we headed to shore. The tenderboat ride was around 20min. Very pleasant as that boat was air-conditioned. Enough seats for all. RC staff were very experienced and organized! Instructions are clear too.

Upon arrival at shore, there were loads of taxi/van drivers… So we didn’t notice the road side stalls as the drivers totally blocked all our view.
We kaypo ask for a quote to decide if use them or get a GRAB as per our original plan and it was 4000baht to bring us to eat seafood, shopping in the same area and head back to the pier.

So we took a Grab to Phuket Old Town (the Central Market). 490baht, we gave 500 baht. It is MPV, so sit 7-8 pax (squeeze a little) is OK. If the group is bigger you really need to hire van and pay the 4000baht (or you can try to bargain).

At that area we walked around to see street art. Then settled down at a nice old café run by an old lady and we chit chat with her.
Then we continued walking around and found a massage place! 250baht for 1h of foot massage (Thank You Mummy!). It was so so so good! Baby Oppa had a massage too! My mum tried their oil massage.
After that we continued walking and found a small chicken rice place. Very hungry and my mum was happy to see Chinese food after eating western meals on board for the past 2 days. After that we went to a convenience store (again) to shop. Bought some cup noodles because we wanted supper but too lazy to walk to the 24h café to get food. Ahjussi bought soft drinks again and was a happy man.

If you don’t wanna go anywhere else, you can come out later to the pier (around 1-2pm) and just shop & eat at the roadside stalls just beside the pier. At least try the tenderboat experience!
My boys loved the BBQ food there. There’s local street food (sit under a tent and eat) too, but we only saw it on our way back, and we were too full! We bought some souvenirs for the boys’ friends here. Cute little magnets!

And the service by RC is really awesome. On our way back, we noticed a huge table with 3 ice water dispensers and loads of cups. And a familiar looking uniform. It was a RC staff standing there waiting to give us water to drink!
The weather was really scorching hot so we were happy to see him. 3 dispensers had different type of water. Plain iced water, cucumber ice water, lemon ice water. The cucumber iced water was the best to cool down!

The tenderboat arrived just as we strolled into the pier, so we boarded after 5min (to allow the passengers to get off). But this tenderboat was different from what we took to shore. It was older and no aircon. Just fans. But because it wasn’t crowded, we had good seats and managed to take crazy amazing photos of the ship!!!
We headed back at around 2pm to enjoy the facilities on the cruise.

Do note that due to tide/sea level, the port may change. Some nice mummies told me their Nov/Dec cruises docked at Patong Bay (and the tenderboats will drop you off smack in the middle of Patong Beach). From there you can just walk around and there’s no need for driver unless you want to go to other places.
For us, it docked at Deep Sea Port and the pier was Phuket Marine Customs Pier.

As the next day was my mum’s birthday, I sent her for a facial on board the cruise as a treat.
To be honest, I found their prices steep. My mum too. She kept telling me so expensive. But it’s worth it to make my mum happy! Anyway, we used a coupon which was in the room. $50 off if you book spa/facial services during docking days (Day 2 & 3). So it worked to be quite alright. USD150 after the discount for her facial (which the staff said is some super good anti-aging treatment).

The rest of us went round the ship taking photos, watching people try the Flow Rider, letting the kids play golf, hung around at the café to eat (again).

As mentioned earlier, our dinner time at the main dining is 8pm. But we wanted to catch the 7.30pm magic show as we were worried the kids might be too tired to enjoy the 2nd show at 9.30pm. So we tried our luck!
I approached the staff at the main dining and asked if we could eat earlier as my mum was hungry (she was cos she went to have her facial while the rest of us snacked). And they were so nice! Took them a minute to double confirm they had an empty table for 8 and could take us in. So we sat down and enjoyed our dinner very much! Yay!

So we finished dinner on time and went early to grab good seats to watch the magic show! We didn’t want to sit to near the stage as we had to run out in case Meimei cried (which she did because she wanted to sleep). But our seats had a good view, so we were happy. And our room was just outside the theatre, very convenient for us to head back to our room to rest.

We had our cup noodles for supper in our room. Heehee! Hurray to Ahjussi who brought 2 huge thermal flasks kept them filled with hot water daily!
You can easily refill plain water & hot water at L11 Windjammer or L5 Café. So, choose your room/deck carefully!

DAY 4: Cruise All Day Long!Chillax day for us! Woke up late, lazed around! Went around the ship to let the kids play and take photos. Watched people at the Flow Rider again (it’s addictive and fun to watch)!

Had early lunch because we wanted to catch the ice skating show at 2pm.
By right, our allocated slot was the 4pm show but we wanted to try our luck and we got into the standby queue at 1.40pm. We managed to get a good seat for the 2pm show! It’s quite cold inside, wear something warm!

As it was our last dinner, I think my sis went all out.
So did Ahjussi. They ordered like multiple sets of starters because the food was just too good. And multiple sets of mains too!

And it was my mum’s birthday! Ahjussi secretly went to tell the staff and they came over with cake and a candle lit up! Sang Happy Birthday to my mun and wished her too!
And funniest was Meimei wanting to blow the candle but too sudden and she was too far away. By the time she ran over, my mum blow it already!
The staff saw it and he was so so so nice, simply re-lit the candle and told Meimei to blow it! Small little attention to such details made us so so so happy!

Then we went to watch the finale show. Meimei loved it so much! Applauded a lot and smile non-stop. But the show was marred by an inconsiderate family sitting behind us. Talked so loudly. We turned behind to glare so many times but they talked EVEN LOUDER. Even Meimei turned around and ‘shhhh!’ them! Until someone behind them couldn’t take it and said, “CAN YOU SHUT UP OR NOT?” then it stopped.

Most people on the cruise were nice and friendly. Especially the family that kept giving up their seats to us at Windjammer! Thank you so much!

Overview & ComparisonThere are definitely a lot more activities I didn’t mention. Don’t miss out on the fun! Check the Cruise Compass I’ve uploaded and see what may interest you & your family!

Basically, our expenses on this cruise was really minimal: Popcorn to make my kids happy. & a facial treatment for my mum. Plus the driver/Grab, food, massage & shopping when you go to shore (which you can choose not to and enjoy the deserted cruise all to yourself). I’ve posted our total bill earlier 🙂

The bags & items on board for sale had really attractive discounts. If you are a shopaholic, you may like to spend some time there. We saw a lady grabbing the handbags (she had 4 on each arm) as if they were free. LOL! My mum said maybe she has many daughters and 1 handbag for each of them.

And you have no idea how many times my dad said, “This cruise is way better than Costa Victoria!”
I was very bad lah, I impatiently told him this cruise is a lot more exp, so quality sure better. But really, you pay peanuts you get monkey. RC hospitality and service is really top top top!

My friend Whatsapp me to tell me… Once you hav tried RC, you won’t wanna try anything else! I really wanna go again, without the kids. Just me and Ahjussi because the poor man was so so so good with the kids I think he barely enjoyed himself.

Psst… We heard Ovation of the Seas is even better with more activities! But I heard it’s not back in Singapore anytime soon… That’s the one I’m aiming next!

Note: Mummy Audrey runs her own online store, www.TLO.com.sg, while looking after her 3 kids ages 11yo, 6yo, and 3yo. Her business focuses on Korean baby products, thus she travels to Korea frequently to source for new and unique products to bring into Singapore.

Mummy Audrey and her children are available for product/service reviews as long as the products/services are not conflicting with her own products. Do contact her directly at audrey@TLO.com.sg if you are interested for her to review your product.

This is a very important tip!
If you are a shopaholic like us and worry about dragging all the luggage to Incheon Airport, this tip will be useful during your trip! Plan well like us and make use of it! Especially if you are taking afternoon/evening flight, you don’t have to waste time and can still do a little more sightseeing before you fly!

Crazy amount of stuff we have! Can’t imagine dragging these plus 3 kids on an 1+h journey to the airport!

That’s why we planned to end our stay near this place. This is CALT, which is also known as City Airport. There’s also a City Airport in Seoul Station but we find that too complicated to navigate. This place is a lot simpler and less crowded.

How this place works….
They open really in the morning like 5.30am for you to check in. You can check in anytime before your flight (minimum 3h before your flight). So this works great for us as our flight was at 6pm.UPDATE Feb 2018: Minimum 3.5h before your flight if you are flying off from T2.

We checked out at 9am, crossed the road to check in. Go up to level 2 to get our passports stamped. And when we arrive at the airport, we can use the special door with priority queue (same as crew)! It is a lot more convenient!

As we wanted to hang around the area a little more before we head to the airport, we decided to lock our hand carry items in the lockers and come back for them later. There’s airport express bus from CALT to Incheon Airport, so we will take that at around 3.30pm. Journey takes around 1h without traffic jam and 1.5h to 2h with bad traffic. It’s better to arrive slightly early at the airport and have a nice meal than the be late for your flight!

Walking over (1 train station away) to our favourite jjimjilbang in this area.

It’s near Seollung Station, around 3 min walk.

Located at the basement of the building.

Entrance fees.

They provide clothes for the common area. It’s cheaper if you are only coming in for a bath and not heading to the common area.

Nice playground!

The snack bar

Snacks!

We love the eggs!

Enjoying the playground!

Entrance to the restaurant.

Nice restaurant! The food is great!

Menu in Korean, but you can just look at what others are eating and point. Or use Google Translate!

Yummy!

As it was their mid-autumn festival, they served special rice cakes for free! Very yummy! I didn’t know I would enjoy it so much.

My simple ramyun.

Very cute play mat for the kids to nap on! Meimei finally fell asleep so I could go explore!

One of the special heated rooms.

Payable massage beds.

And it’s finally time to head to the airport.
We were very reluctant! But at the same time, happy to head back to Singapore where I have extra help with the kids and get to rest a little. Meimei is a bundle of energy and it’s really hard to chase after her and keep up with her!

But it’s all worth it. Look at the memories we created with them!

Last meal in Korea at Incheon Airport before we fly….

Goodbye Korea! We’ll be back very soon!

Mummy AudreyMummy to Big Boy, Baby Oppa & Meimei

Note: Mummy Audrey runs her own online store, www.TLO.com.sg, while looking after her 3 kids ages 9yo, 5yo, and 1yo. Her business focuses on Korean baby products, thus she travels to Korea frequently to source for new and unique products to bring into Singapore.

Mummy Audrey and her children are available for product/service reviews as long as the products/services are not conflicting with her own products. Do contact her directly at audrey@TLO.com.sg if you are interested for her to review your product.

We were starting to get really tired after running around Korea non-stop the past 13 days. As this is our last full day in Korea, we decided to chillax and had to allocate time to pack our luggage. Packing luggage is a battle for us as we will weigh and carefully calculate the total we are checking in to avoid extra charges. Any excess will be shipped back and we needed time to head to the post office if we needed to ship anything back.

Coex Aquarium didn’t seem like a nice place as the entrance was really small and we could barely sense anything inside.

However, after entering it, we were SHOCKED. The place is huge and there’s a lot more than what you see!

Quick yummy breakfast!

At the entrance of Coex! We walked around and shopped around before going to the aquarium.

Lunch before the long walk in the aquarium! This is one of our fave restaurants in Coex!

This is spicy but the kids loved it!

Before you continue on to the flood of photos, there’s a really nice show and you must make sure to check the show schedule and watch it!

Entrance to Coex Aquarium!

She fell asleep! We had quite a peaceful exploration time because she was asleep! LOL!

They have a very lovely show! We caught it just in time!

Meimei finally woke up!

They have diaper change area that’s clean.

Nursing room – individual cubicles with curtains only. There’s fan as the place is not covered by the central aircon which is really cold.

Very cute display at the mall!

We were really tired and had to sort out our luggage, so we decided to order fried chicken for the kids and all of us just chilled in the room.

Next up: Day 15 – City Airport, Jjimjilbang AGAIN & Back to Singapore!

Keep a lookout!

Mummy AudreyMummy to Big Boy, Baby Oppa & Meimei

Note: Mummy Audrey runs her own online store, www.TLO.com.sg, while looking after her 3 kids ages 9yo, 5yo, and 1yo. Her business focuses on Korean baby products, thus she travels to Korea frequently to source for new and unique products to bring into Singapore.

Mummy Audrey and her children are available for product/service reviews as long as the products/services are not conflicting with her own products. Do contact her directly at audrey@TLO.com.sg if you are interested for her to review your product.

So sorry this update came so late! I thought I had uploaded everything but a friend reminded me that we’re not done with the trip just yet!

This is the most tiring day of the trip. But it was super fun!
We spent the entire day at Lotte World from opening till closing! But we forgot to head outside to catch the fireworks at Magic Land. #oops

Anyway, take your time to browse through the pictures and take a look at the video of the parade!

The Southern Entrance! This is to collect the tickets we purchased online 🙂

You can see the ticket prices. They have quite a few options if you are just walking around and not taking rides.

Baby Oppa was really looking forward to this!

Halloween themed when we went!

The boys pretending to be ZOMBIES!

Dress up for little girls!

Height Matters!

The difference between the boys! One loves rides while the other is terrified!

Reasonable priced restaurant! The food was great too! Not too crowded and we could refill the kids’ water bottles.

Big Boy’s fave – PIZZA!

Pororo Park! This place is bigger than the one at Coex. Additional entrance fees applies.

Additional entrance fees applies. You can enter this Pororo Park without entering Lotte World actually. They have an alternate entrance from the shopping mall/ice skating rink.

Meimei’s fave… All the BALLS!!!

Sand play!

Bounce Bounce Bounce!

Mini indoor playground

Parent’s hideout within Pororo Park!

She decided to be a baby again…. But too big for it already!

The Pororo Park here is huge. Both of us were so tired running after the kids to watch them!

Back into Lotte World main area to look around.

I have so many photos of the night parade but the VIDEO says it all!
There’s too much to share about this amazing place! It’s better if you visit it yourself and soak in the fun!

Conclusion about Lotte World: It’s fantastic for KIDS!
However, they are quite STRICT on the height limit for the rides.
Also, we bought discounted tickets online which came as ‘tour tickets’ where everyone gets adult tickets. Certain ride staff were sticky about it and refused to let the kids take the rides without the child ticket. We had to go to their customer service centre to see the manager and get that sorted out. We were informed that this has been improved, not too sure how true as we encountered this again during our Dec 2017 trip.

Note: Mummy Audrey runs her own online store, www.TLO.com.sg, while looking after her 3 kids ages 9yo, 5yo, and 1yo. Her business focuses on Korean baby products, thus she travels to Korea frequently to source for new and unique products to bring into Singapore.

Mummy Audrey and her children are available for product/service reviews as long as the products/services are not conflicting with her own products. Do contact her directly at audrey@TLO.com.sg if you are interested for her to review your product.

So, the day started off with us waking up late as we were too tired from all the walking at Seoul Forest followed by shopping at Wangsimni!

Lazing around

After the kids decided to wake up, we headed to Coex, which was just across the road. Love the convenience of this Gangnam apartment! They munched on grapes again for breakfast and Ahjussi made porridge for us too. Perks of living in an apartment with kitchen.

First stop at Coex: Lotte Duty Free!

Baby Oppa wanted a photo with the stars!

I wanted to buy some gifts from MCM for our Sure Win Lucky Dip (event for our baby fairs). So this is the right place to be shopping at!

Do note that photo taking INSIDE MCM is NOT ALLOWED. The staff will be very fast to either cover your phone or snatch it away. Don’t be surprised. If your friends are asking you to help them find something, just show the photo/screenshot to the staff will do.

And Ahjussi went to get some additional discounts or something. I can’t remember clearly. So I hung around with 3 kids while waiting for him to settle that.

He came back and saw this. Guess who got scolded. OOPSIES!

Mad fun!

Many cute little displays all over the mall for photo taking!

We were getting hungry so we decided to settle down for something to eat. Too lazy to think, so we just plonked ourselves down at this restaurant serving Andong Chicken Stew.

Turned out… It was SPICY!!! The boys had to down a lot of rice & water. Looks innocent yet super spicy although we requested no chili! Be warned! Not kid friendly!
We bought the boys burgers after this.

Loads of seafood! Really value for money. 34,000 won per set (can feed 4 but both of us finished it all).

And we were really too tired to do anything else! We headed back to the apartment to rest.

So while the boys enjoyed their free time (TV/iPad), Meimei was busy looking for stuff to play. We don’t believe in bringing many toys along during a trip, so she had to find her own entertainment. Kids learn more when not given toys, this trip really proved this point to us! We were surprised at her stacking skills!

Ahjussi went to tabao dinner. Amongst all the fried chicken we had in Korea (we’ve tried all the ‘branded’ ones that were recommended), this is our ultimate fave! MAD FRY CHICKEN!

For convenience, Ahjussi ordered boneless drumsticks.

This is it! I think this is half dozen? He bought other food too. Complimentary pickled radish which we seldom ate.

Their dips were mouth watering. The boys enjoyed the cheese dip a lot! I preferred their chili dip. Slightly spicy with a tangy feel.

I don’t have the exact address to this place. But if you are near Coex, it is just across the road from 7-Luck Casino’s main entrance. Sharing same premises as Ediya cafe. They apparently have many branches all over Korea, so maybe Google can help you find an outlet near where you will be staying at!

Note: Mummy Audrey runs her own online store, www.TLO.com.sg, while looking after her 3 kids ages 9yo, 5yo, and 1yo. Her business focuses on Korean baby products, thus she travels to Korea frequently to source for new and unique products to bring into Singapore.

Mummy Audrey and her children are available for product/service reviews as long as the products/services are not conflicting with her own products. Do contact her directly at audrey@TLO.com.sg if you are interested for her to review your product.

But since I knew we wouldn’t want to rush around, I book the cruise for 2pm, which means we had to reach by 1.30pm to exchange tickets and get ready for boarding. In case we got lost, we planned to reach there by 1pm, giving ourselves adequate buffer time if needed.

Since we were in no rush and we had to change apartment (to Gangnam area) the next day, we slept late and spent some time tidying up the room before we headed out. Ahjussi went to tabao pizza for breakfast!

Awesome Bulgogi Pizza! It is made from Korean beef which is premium beef!

So we were too lazy to think of lunch ideas and decided to head back to On the Grill to say goodbye to the Singaporean chef before we left Myeongdong area.

After lunch, we headed out. The tickets came with specific instructions on where to go, so we took the train and followed the instructions.

Screenshot of the confirmation email with instructions.

Thank goodness we decided to leave early. There were 2 interchanges we had to walk through and we GOT LOST! We got off at the wrong station because I didn’t zoom into the app to check which station we were supposed to alight at and assumed. Correct route: Myeongdong to Seoul Station, then to Gongdeok. I saw it as Hyochang instead of Gongdeok and WHOOPSIE! Thankful that Koreans are generally helpful and their signages were clear. Wasted 15min on getting lost!

At Exit 3 according to the instructions!

This stall greeted us. Smell really good but er… Not our kind of snack! Pupa and sea snails.

Left side is the train station exit. The right side is the path towards E-Land Cruise!

We spotted the signage after walking for a few minutes.

Head towards the river as per instructions.

See that tall building? That’s 63 Building. We didn’t have time to pop over, though.

Spotted a dock or something from far.

Looks right!

Yes, it is right!

Looking for the ticket counter.

Spotted a signage pointing to the ticket counter. It’s a FRIDAY and it is a hot afternoon, so there weren’t many people around.

So nice to capture humanless photos because it is usually crowded in the city!

Found the ticket counter!

They required us to fill up a form. I guess that is the ‘passenger list’.

There are fixtures with good photo opportunities!

I’m loving this photo! Meimei was cranky in her stroller so she didn’t want to take a photo with the boys.

Big Boy asked for a photo by himself 🙂

And Baby Oppa wanted one too.

How could we forget this cheeky Meimei? She’s enjoying the surroundings, pointing and yakking in baby talk.

Heading towards the dock. Lovely bridge. I think it lights up with pretty lights at night!

Another bridge with flowers instead.

In the air conditioned area waiting to board! There are F&B outlets here, so you can come early and have lunch here. We ordered iced drinks as the sun was really scorching that day.

The cruise arrived! It’s time to board!

Wondering why the cruise looks so familiar? Because it has been featured on popular dramas like You Who Came from the Stars (My Love from the Stars).

First thing that caught my eye once we boarded. Nursing room!

Clean, comfy, well ventilated & private!

Simple snack counter.

And looking out of the windows, we saw SEAGULLS!

Big Boy enjoying himself even before we start to move off!

Perks of coming on a weekday. So quiet!

We had the whole Level 1 (air con) to ourselves! They even had a singer perform live! And the only audience was a sleeping Meimei and me.

And Ahjussi spotted anchovies being sold at the snack booth so that you can feed the seagulls. 2,000 won per cup (around 10 large anchovies).

Finally moving off!

The lone passenger who is paying attention…

Travelling under the bridge!

Ahjussi trying to feed seagulls in the middle of NOWHERE. LOL!

Tried & tried but it doesn’t work this way!

Finally the staff demo to us. We were supposed to stand by the side of the cruise.

The very pretty and nice staff who entertained the boys! And she said my spoken Korean is very accurate! *ego boost* She also gave each of our kids a balloon! The kids were so happy with the balloons!

The upper deck of the cruise!

There’s a signage to inform tourists that you can feed the seagulls, but with anchovies only. Otherwise, the seagulls will be sick!

Feeding the seagulls really require a lot of patience and arm muscle. You have to hold your hand up up up and wait for them to zoom in! The video was sped up in the front part, then slow mo at the end for you to see clearly how the seagull comes here! It felt scary because I wondered if the seagull will bite my fingers off, but don’t worry! They are skilled and I didn’t even realized the anchovy was gone!

And just a tip: Do not wear sleeveless like I did. I was burnt like a lobster that day!

So after the cruise, we decided to stroll along the river. This park we are at is called Yeoeuido Han River Park

Stairs art at a rest area under the bridge. There are a lot of Ahjummas here having a picnic with their friends!

Tiles on the pillars of the bridge.

We walked a little and came across this! Paddle boats!

They provided life vests and have many sizes available for the whole family!

You can choose manual paddle boat or the electric boat at a higher price. Ahjussi chose the electric boat because he didn’t want to be the only one paddling. Meimei was asleep so I stayed on shore with her and chatted with the owner. He can speak Chinese very well.

Pricing information. It’s 40 minutes per round. Electric ones are 20,000 won while the manual ones are 15,000 won.

The boys enjoyed themselves. Paddling for 40 minutes would have driven Ahjussi insane, so please choose the electric one like he did. They totally enjoyed it though Baby Oppa was a little frightened.

Finally, Meimei woke up! It’s time to play in the vast park!

Loads of cute and unique structures for photos. The boys really enjoyed posing!

And how can we forget to let the little girl have some fun of her own? She loves chasing pigeons and when there’s a flock of them, she couldn’t resist! The video was made fast, otherwise, you will have a really long video to watch.

We actually intended to head back to the train station and move off from the park to find dinner as there wasn’t much around the park (all residential area).

We walked a little and I got mildly excited thinking I could bump into my fave celebs!

MBC!!!!! But too bad. Didn’t see any celebs at all.

Disappointed and hungry, I got tired and took a seat to rest. Then decided to ask Google for dinner suggestions around the area.

And something awesome popped up! It’s a NIGHT MARKET by the river, right at the park we were at! So we moved over to find the location of this night market.

Turn around and face the river, this is what you will see. Loads of people hanging around as there was a performance at the park that evening.

Turn left and walk towards the bridge.

Baby Oppa pointing the direction you should walk to.

Keep walking.

Go under the bridge.

Walk on.

And a little more.

You will see this water feature.

So this water feature is apparently very fun! Look at the daredevils!

This is the place!

Look out for this sign! We bought picnic mat for 4,000 won (you can get back 2,000 won if you return it). Settled the boys here and Ahjussi headed off to buy makan for us. I told him to get something for the boys first, then we can slowly find food for ourselves later.

Chillaxing and watching kites in the sky…

I know we looked strangely out of place but we chose a quiet spot. Who knew that just minutes after this photo, we were surrounded!

As the sun started to set, the skies turned dark and the atmosphere was so nice!

By the time we got all the food, it was so dark! Thankfully Ahjussi is like Doraemon! LOL! He dug into his pouch and out came a portable battery pack with a USB lamp!

A better shot of the boys 🙂

There’re so many food choices, we almost went insane. But thankfully, we saw online reviews and narrowed down our makan choices to a few items.

(1) Steak!(2) Pineapple Shrimps(3) Japanese steak rice for the boys

Too many beautiful photos to share, so do click and slowly browse through!

Cute little tents selling a variety of products!

Hand made head bands for dogs!

Couple rings!

Cute hand painted porcelain.

Miniature plants! But cannot bring back to SG.

Handmade toys

This is the super yummy Pineapple Shrimp from Big Island!

Yummy Steak!

This is where I bought the steak from! 8,000 won per serving.

This is the Pineapple Shrimp!

The queue was crazy long but moves fast since they only sell 1 food item and have quite a few staff.

Info counter if you need any help!

This steak rice was highly recommended too. Got this for the boys!

Look at that queue!

Not to forget… After our dinner, we came across an Ah Ma selling toys. And she showed the boys how to play it, so we purchased from her. I guess playing is the universal language. She explained in Korean, yet Baby Oppa totally understood what she was saying.

We were really happy with the accidental find for dinner! If you are heading to Seoul between March to October, we highly recommend that you try out the river cruise (we took the cruise to nowhere), the paddle boat, just stroll along the river and enjoy the beautiful park, then end off the day with a wonderful pasar malam style dinner by the river!

Note: Mummy Audrey runs her own online store, www.TLO.com.sg, while looking after her 3 kids ages 9yo, 5yo, and 1yo. Her business focuses on Korean baby products, thus she travels to Korea frequently to source for new and unique products to bring into Singapore.

Mummy Audrey and her children are available for product/service reviews as long as the products/services are not conflicting with her own products. Do contact her directly at audrey@TLO.com.sg if you are interested for her to review your product.